[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 19]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 25763]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  HONORING MOBILE, ALABAMA'S BAKER HIGH SCHOOL MARCHING BAND FOR ITS 
        PARTICIPATION IN THE 2004 MACY'S THANKSGIVING DAY PARADE

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. JO BONNER

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 7, 2004

  Mr. BONNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the members of the 
Baker High School Marching Band for their participation in the 2004 
Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City.
  Baker High School, located in Mobile, Alabama, is without question 
very proud of the efforts of its band. For several months, the 220 
members of this group, both musicians and flag corps participants, 
worked tirelessly in preparation for a performance which took place in 
front of thousands of men, women, and children lining the streets of 
Manhattan, and for an audience of millions watching the parade on 
television here in the United States and around the world.
  The members of the band spent the past two years holding multiple 
fundraisers to raise the money necessary to make this trip to New York. 
These efforts, which included gift wrapping, selling coupon books to 
friends and neighbors in the Mobile area, and bagging groceries at 
local supermarkets, were extremely successful and provided the band 
with the means to travel to this event. Even the recent devastation 
caused by Hurricane Ivan could not dampen either the enthusiasm or 
determination of these fine young men and women to participate in this 
Thanksgiving Day tradition.
  The one hour, 45-block walk down Broadway from Central Park to 34th 
Street in lower Manhattan gave the band and flag corps ample 
opportunity to demonstrate its abilities, and they did not disappoint. 
The total of 96 songs performed by the band were enthusiastically 
received by the thousands along the parade route, and their talents 
were showcased even further when NBC gave the band the chance to 
perform for its nationwide television audience on that morning's 
broadcast of the ``Today Show.''
  Mr. Speaker, the residents of Mobile, Alabama, are extremely proud of 
all of the young men and women who participated in this event. I ask my 
colleagues to join with me and with the families of all of these 
students in praising them and their band director, Tripp Morris, for a 
fine showing for south Alabama and a fine performance for the entire 
country.

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